Get ready! Parents and families are coming to campus for Family Weekend 2023, Thursday–Saturday, Feb. 2–4. Festivities include men’s and women’s basketball games, a performance of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps, and more. We hope you can join us for some of the events! Check out the Family Weekend 2023 schedule.

Jonathan Tran, Baylor University's associate professor of philosophical theology and George W. Baines Chair of Religion, is the guest lecturer for the 2023 Palmer Lecture on Thursday, Feb. 9, 7–9 p.m. in Upper Gwinn. His lecture is titled, “The Divine Economy vs. Racial Capitalism: Identity Politics, Antiracism, and the Redemption of All Things.” With antiracism lost in a fog of identity politics, it has surrendered the work of liberation to debasing forms of class warfare. But antiracism as a mode of liberation theology narrates justice and mercy as natural to the world insofar as they are natural to God. By considering the work of local forms of Christian life invested in God’s deep economy, we see God’s redemption of the world.

The lecture is sponsored by SPU's School of Theology and Seattle Pacific Seminary.

Faculty and staff members are invited to a luncheon on Feb. 10, 12–2 p.m. in Fine Center at First Free Methodist Church with the 2023 Palmer Lecture speaker Jonathan Tran, Baylor University’s associate professor of philosophical theology and George W. Baines Chair of Religion. For more information about Dr. Tran, check out his book Asian Americans and the Spirit of Racial Capitalism, which presents a novel way of thinking about and approaching racism and antiracism. RSVPs are required through EventBrite.

The SPU community is also invited to the documentary film screening of Far East, Deep South on Feb. 10, 7–9:30 p.m., also in the Fine Center. RSVPs for the documentary are also required through EventBrite.

Professor of Biology Cara Wall-Scheffler will present her latest research examining how women’s “endurance mobility has shaped the evolution of our entire human species” at a public lecture Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 6 p.m. in Upper Gwinn Commons, Queen Anne Room. The lecture is free and open to the public and will be livestreamed at youtu.be/dOZ0nK3bOgs.

In November, Cara received the 2022 Lynwood W. Swanson Scientific Research Award from M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, which recognizes a senior faculty member with an established, productive, and nationally recognized research program.

Join us for the Day of Common Learning on Wednesday, Jan. 25, beginning with the keynote address at 10 a.m. in Royal Brougham Pavilion. Our keynote speaker, spoken-word artist Lo Alaman, will begin the day sharing how “Art and Atonement” can help heal brokenness in this world. The day also features breakout sessions at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. around this topic and ends with an open mic night for students at 7 p.m. Classes before 3 p.m. are canceled so the community can come together around this important topic. Classes from 3 p.m. onward will take place as usual. For the complete schedule, including the Faculty Luncheon with Lo, visit the Day of Common Learning website.

In Context is a six-week workshop on race, capitalism, and transformative justice hosted by Catalyst. Together we will learn about the ever-present reality of systemic racism and the ways it holds us back from collective liberation in order to refine our perceptions of ourselves, our histories, and our collective society. We hope to foster a safe space in which all SPU students, staff, and faculty are invited to engage in challenging and transformative conversations and to equip SPU community members to work toward a better world by thinking critically about systems of exploitation. Queer, trans, and BIPOC folks are encouraged to participate.

This quarter we will be meeting in Bertona 1 (ADA accessible) from weeks 4 to 9 on Thursdays, 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. The specific dates are Jan. 26, Feb. 2, Feb. 9, Feb. 16, Feb. 23, and March 2. (You must commit consecutively to the six weeks.) Register here. Reach out to student Rae Perez at perezm9@spu.edu with any questions.

Flow Fitness, located across the Fremont bridge, offers SPU students a 20% discount and SPU faculty and staff a 10% discount on gym memberships. Flow Fitness is one of Seattle’s premier fitness clubs and offers a variety of studio classes, training programs, and gym access. Create a customized fitness routine around your goals and motivations and “find your flow.” Sign up in person and show your SPU ID to receive the discount.

The Center for Career and Calling is offering free LinkedIn headshots to all students, staff, and faculty every Monday and Wednesday, 12–2 p.m. No appointment needed! The CCC is located in the SUB on the second floor.

Last year, a number of faculty and staff enjoyed playing pickleball on a weekly basis in Upper Gym in Royal Brougham. We plan to play this year, as well, and would love to have any level of player join us. If you are an expert, the weak link, or somewhere in between, come join the fun. If you are interested in playing, email staff member Cindy Strong at clstrong@spu.edu for more information.

The Faculty/Staff Bulletin is published weekly on Mondays during the academic year (or Tuesday if Monday is a holiday). The next deadline is Thursday, Jan. 19, and the next issue will be published Monday, Jan. 23.

If you have information or event news, send it as soon as possible with an image or graphic to Bulletin editor Tracy Norlen at fsb-editor@spu.edu. Submissions may be edited for clarity.

Katherine Douglass, associate professor of educational ministry and practical theology, received a $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. as part of the Christian Parenting and Caregiving Initiative. The grant will be used to study faith socialization in families, gather ministry leaders and parents to learn together, and also to take local leaders on a pilgrimage to Hawaii to learn about the intersections of disease, colonization, family structures, and religion within the leper colony on Moloka’i.

Katherine will be working with fellow SPU professors Sara Koenig, Jenny Vaydich, Brittany Tausen, and Joyce Del Rosario on this project. Congratulations!

Peter Moe, associate professor of English, had his essay, “Gently So,” recently published in Notre Dame magazine. Editors described his essay as “a meditation on death and life and a bucket of earth.”

An edited volume by Katya Nemtchinova, professor of linguistics, titled Enhancing Beginner-Level Foreign Language Education for Adult Learners, was published by Routledge. She also co-authored a chapter on “Training Russian verbs of motion in virtual reality” with Kristin Bidoshi (Union College). The volume presents empirical studies investigating various aspects of linguistic and intercultural competence, classroom use of technology, assessment, and evaluation. Each chapter includes teaching insights that are supported by critical research and can enhance instructional strategies and curriculum designs. Rather than focusing on a single language, the articles in the collection deal with many different world languages taught in colleges and universities across the globe.

Karen Snedker, professor of sociology, was appointed to a three-year term to the editorial board of Society and Mental Health. This is the official journal of the American Sociology Association Section on the Sociology of Mental Health.

A co-authored publication by Alice Bravo, assistant professor of teacher education, titled “Social validity in behavioral research: A selective review," recently appeared in Perspectives on Behavior Science. Additionally an incorrect link was included in last week’s Faculty/Staff Bulletin for her co-authored article in Frontiers in Psychiatry. This is the corrected link for her publication, “Supporting the inclusion and retention of autistic students: Exploring teachers’ and paraeducators’ use of evidence-based practices in public elementary schools.”

Jason Thornberry, receptionist in the School of Education and SPU adjunct writing instructor, had his poem, “Monument,” published recently in Helix Literary Magazine.

Alberto Ferreiro, professor emeritus of European history, gave two invited lectures at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Bothell for the Rite of Initiation for Christian Adults program in December and January. The first, on Dec. 18, was on the Four Marks of the Church — one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church — as professed in the Creed. Its historical, theological, liturgical, ecumenical, and personal ramifications were discussed. The second lecture on Jan. 8 was on the Paschal Mystery, exploring its historical, theological, liturgical, ecumenical, and personal ramifications.

Please join the Office of Human Resources in welcoming Robert Stewart, technology support analyst I, Computer and Information Systems.